To Evolve A Golbat
by Wanderliing
Summary: Silver tries to find out what it truly is that's stopping him from defeating Gold in a battle.


**A/N: **Completely gameverse set, based on the evolution of Silver's Golbat to a Crobat which is revealed when you battle with him for the first time teaming up against Lance and Clair.

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If there was one thing that Silver was slowly becoming more and more familiar with, it was losing, and he hated it. There was one thing he didn't want to admit to, not to himself and most certainly not to anyone else, and that was that in comparison to that Gold kid he was _weak_. It was slow in growing, this realization. He had always desired to be strong, stronger than anyone else, strong enough to rid the world of weaklings. But all of this had brought things into question… Such as, what truly made a person strong? What was the definition of strength in the first place?

Before he had met Gold, and even some time after that, this would be an easy question to answer. He would be able to say power made someone strong, as that was the definition of strength wasn't it? A dictionary search late into the night had proved even more confusion to Silver. It had such meanings inside of it like "physical power and energy" and "the emotional or mental qualities necessary in dealing with situations or events that are distressing or difficult." All of these fit how he had always expected the word to mean. If this was the case, why was Gold so much stronger than him? Why did he continue to win every battle between the two of them? Silver had the more rigorous, more thought out, more intense training methods. His Pokemon were in the top of their game. The entire day came flooding back to him, losing yet again on victory road, and how he had promised Gold he would find out what he was doing wrong, he would come back, and he would defeat him. It was boasting but Silver couldn't just lie down and take this any longer, he had finally had enough of all of this.

_"…I haven't given up on becoming the greatest trainer… I'm going to find out why I can't win and become stronger…. When I do, I will challenge you. And I'll beat you down with all my power. …Humph! You keep at it until then." _Those were the last words he had said before he left, it had been awhile since then, and he hadn't seen Gold again. This was fairly good news however, he could tell by looking at his Pokemon now that they were strong, they were powerful, but there was still something they lacked. Something, that without, he would still lose to Gold in the same short span of time that he always did. But he had absolutely no clue what that was.

What did Gold even do to train? Silver wasn't positive, perhaps it was an even more rigorous training regimen than the one he had been implementing, but he found that conclusion unlikely. Gold didn't really seem… the type. Silver found it unlikely he did any sort of _real _training at all in the first place, and that's what made the entire situation so frustrating. Was it back to what that old man had said in Bellsprout tower? Was this entire thing about…. Being nice to his Pokemon? He'd been nice enough to his Pokemon, hadn't he?

He sent out his Pokemon, the six red and white balls flying out one by one, the red light appearing as his companions were summoned. Was that the proper word? Silver was well aware Gold would call all of his Pokemon his friends, or even his partners. Could Silver do the same? Hah, did it even matter if he could?

….Perhaps it did.

They were all strong, you could tell by looking at them, powerful Pokemon with dangerous glints in their eyes. There was no part of them that was lacking in any way… So why? Why hadn't he won a single battle against Gold? His team was strong, Feraligatr the clear leader of the team with the highest level. Following closely were Gengar and Alakazam. All three powerful Pokemon, one even with a clear advantage over Gold's Typhlosion. So why was he still losing? Was it the last three of them? All three of them had another evolution to before they were complete… Sneasel, a Pokemon important to him, but one he couldn't evolve without a certain item that he didn't have in his possession, there would be no evolution there. Magneton was fine the way it was, the new evolution discovery for it not applying to him, it turning out to be location based. That left only one… Golbat. It's flying type characteristics making it an important component in battle, it was a member of his team he wasn't in any position to lose, unless he wanted to select a new Pokemon to train up, but that would probably end up just being more pain than it was actually worth… Which left him one option for it to achieve absolute strength; he would need to evolve it. A Crobat was quite the enemy; it was fast and powerful, and much more difficult to beat than any Golbat was… Perhaps that's what it would take to defeat Gold? Silver returned his other Pokemon, leaving only Golbat out. It hovered in the air, staring Silver in the eye, its large darkened mouth hanging open. Silver folded his arms and stared right back. They stood like that for a while, Silver trying to decide how he was going to solve this problem.

People had Crobats, of course they did, it was how it was known that the species had been discovered. But the evolution was the part that was going to be more difficult for Silver to achieve. It was something along the lines of friendship, if he remembered properly. He opened up the bag that he carried his things in, digging through it a bit. He pulled out a soothe bell, an old item that was rather tarnished looking, and stared at it. This was supposed to boost their friendship level, wasn't it? He walked towards his Golbat, which had now ceased in its hovering, and was continuing to look at him in a mildly suspicious way.

"What…?" Silver asked quietly, sounding mildly annoyed. The Golbat just stared at him in response. He put it around its head the best he could, the bell hanging over slightly into Golbat's mouth. Well… This wasn't quite reasonable. It wouldn't be able to fight like this, but it wouldn't really need to until it evolved. Silver continued to stand there staring at the Pokemon in front of him, waiting for something to happen, an evolution to take place. Their friendship had gone up, hadn't it?

They stood there for a few more minutes, just like that, neither one moving or doing anything before Silver yelled in frustration and stomped away from the Pokemon. Golbat remained where it was, it's training kicking in, it hadn't been instructed to move, so it settled on closing its eyes, enjoying its moment out of the pokeball to properly stretch itself out while sleeping.

Silver stomped around his campsite frustratedly, why hadn't it worked? Their friendship had gone up hadn't it?! It should be a damn Crobat by now! Unless…. Unless there was still more that he had to do. Perhaps there was something else he had to do with his Pokemon in order to evolve it? He paused in his stomps, Golbat opening one eye to peer at its trainer, it didn't quite understand what was wrong with him, but it was sure he would solve it. Silver felt his frown disappear as a tiny smile spread across his face, he had it now he was sure. He had heard once that Pokemon and trainers bonded easily through steps. If he walked around with his Golbat some, it was sure to evolve! Wasn't it? He made his way back over to his Pokemon and crossed his arms, still smiling. Golbat stared back up at its trainer, wondering what he was up to now.

"Come on, we're going for a walk." For some reason Silver paused before leading his Pokemon away. Perhaps he should let out the others…? There was the chance they could enjoy the stretch, getting the chance to move was always good. It would be problematic if in battle one of them pulled something, costing them the victory. He released the remaining five of his Pokemon. They all stared at him for a moment and he looked back before saying for the second time "We're going for a walk." Silver then turned, leading his Pokemon down a small path in the woods which had led to their previously mentioned campsite. They followed him, in a semi-confused state at first, but none of them showed it.

It continued on like this for a while, nothing noteworthy actually happening, besides a walk through the forest. Silver could feel himself relaxing, his mind wandering other places besides that he was trying to evolve his Golbat. This was probably good news, perhaps the added and obvious pressure of trying to get it to evolve would make it less likely? Would that make them less of friends?

Ah, less of friends… For some reason Silver hadn't quite realized yet that trying to raise the friendship level of him and his Pokemon would lead to friendship. That's what it meant, didn't it? Did that mean that by the end of this he and his Pokemon would be friends? Was that a required thing? Or could this end with their strict previously mentioned working together, both trying to get stronger in the long run whilst using each other? Did friends do that? Would they no longer help each other out? Silver frowned, anger pulling at his face. He wasn't quite sure how to handle this entire thing. He turned on his heel, leading his team silently back towards camp. However, one thing he hadn't planned on was stepping in the wrong place, his black boot slipping under a dark brown tree route that had grown out of the ground before going back into it, creating a small loop on the ground just big enough for a foot to slide under. Silver hit the ground, landing on his side, his ankle twisting and not leaving the loop. He felt tears quickly enter his eyes at the shooting pain, but he ignored them. He tried to pull his boot out from under the root, but the pain shoot up his leg yet again. He kept silent the entire time, not even bothering to think about letting out a yelp of pain.

Silver's Pokemon all paused behind the scene, Silver not bothering to even remember in this moment that they were there. None of them approached at first, but at Silver's rather pitiful attempts to get his foot out from its trap, Sneasel approached its trainer. It paused, looking at the root for a moment, before cutting it away with its claws. Silver started at his Pokemon in shock, not registering completely what had happened. Silver however, slowly on a grip on the situation and nodded at his Pokemon in response, and attempted to stand. His ankle instantly gave way underneath of him, not able to sustain his weight. He did yelp at that, mostly out of surprise, but it was a yelp just the same. His Alakazam used its psychic attack to levitate him in the air, to which Silver's eyes widened around him. Why was this happening!? Why either of these Pokemon had done anything, he hadn't asked once for it! He was about to yell at his Pokemon to put him down when it moved him to his Feraligar's shoulder, perching him there. His blue Pokemon grabbed onto his leg for support, not allowing his trainer to fall down. The Pokemon then quietly began their trek back to camp, no more interruptions coming their way, not even from Silver. He didn't understand, there was no part of him that could fathom what was going on in this moment. He hadn't asked for help… Why was he getting it?

Silver was deposited back at camp, his Pokemon putting him carefully down outside of where he had set up a small tent. Silver looked down and quietly thanked his Pokemon, unable to look at them before returning all of them. He stared at the pokeballs in front of him, his mouth a hard line. Why was any of this happening? He slowly got ready for bed, watching his ankle carefully, before setting up to go to sleep. It had gotten steadily darker out during their walk, making it only logical that a mistake could be made, like say, tripping and twisting an ankle. There was a long night ahead of him of trying not to toss and turn too much, for fear of making his ankle worse, but slowly and finally falling asleep.

XxX

Silver got up the next morning, carefully walking on his feet in the effort to test how his ankle was holding up. The pain was now a mild burn, he must have hurt it less than he had thought last night… But the threat was still there of if he put too much weight on it that it would give way underneath of him, making the entire situation worse. He didn't want to have to rely on his Pokemon again, hadn't yesterday been enough? Silver couldn't fight the rising sense of guilt in his chest at the entire situation. The guilt made it worse in a way; he wasn't quite sure how to handle having that particular emotion. It certainly wasn't one that he was used to having, or at least, embracing. Silver however had a goal to do, and he wasn't going to let anyone stop him from achieving it. With a flick of his wrist he sent out his Golbat, the pokeball opening with ease. Silver stared at it and yet again it stared back. It still had the bell clearly around its head. The red head wondered briefly if because of it their friend level had gone up… It didn't seem like it. Golbat was clearly still just that, a Golbat.

"We're going into town today." Silver told the Golbat plainly and began to walk away carefully from the camp site. His Pokemon followed him silently, flying in the air behind him. One thing Silver wasn't aware of was the small amount of concern his Pokemon had for its trainer in this moment. It had witnessed the entire event last night after all, and found itself quite worried about him being hurt further. So, it continued to fly behind him, its mind worrying just on making sure Silver's steps stayed in place and normal. Silver was having a similar thought process; he just lacked the awareness that someone was sharing it. Silver was leading the two of them towards Goldenrod city, having chosen to make camp on route 34 for the time being. The Pokemon in the surrounding area, and the trainers for that matter, were weak, and he hadn't bothered to battle any of them.

Silver was on the way to Goldenrod city for one reason, and it was to work further on his relationship with his Golbat. He had remembered the previous night a discussion with Lyra where she had gabbed on and on about how if you went to either of the haircut brothers in the Goldenrod city underground your friendship with your Pokemon would improve. The walk there was also part of Silver's plan to help their relationship go further up. If becoming friends was what it would take, he would do it. The concept of what actually defined a friendship was a lot more foreign to Silver, but he was certain it could be measured in friendship points as he had been previously aware.

When Silver got to the city he slowly made his way into the underground system, finding a young man along the side of the tunnel. Long shaggy red hair* pushed out of his face, and a blue apron covering his clothes he greeted Silver with a smile. "Care for a haircut? Only 300!" Silver nodded briskly, crossing his arms. The man seemed slightly off put by his grouchy mood, but he didn't say anything, only small traces of his smile disappearing and becoming less sincere, a new worry setting in behind his eyes.

"Please show me which Pokemon-" His sentence trailed off when Silver made an obviously displeased face, proceeding to speak. "My Golbat will be the one getting the haircut." The man nodded sheepishly and proceeded to beckon Golbat onto his station, the large Pokemon taking up quite a bit of room. Silver proceeded to watch the small blue hairs on the Pokemon get trimmed up, its eyes closing as it allowed the man to continue in his trimming. He spoke quietly to it, smiling brightly, but Silver could tell he was still nervous, and that made him confused. Was there a lack of confidence in himself and the work he did? He seemed to be doing quite fine; he didn't quite understand where it was coming from.

Silver waited for him to finish while leaning against a nearby wall, occasionally glancing over to check on his Pokemon. The anxiety for making sure everything was going okay was a new and strange realization. He didn't know what he would do if anything happened however… He felt like he was supposed to do something. Not just because that was one of his prized fighters, although that was part of it, but also… His Pokemon had helped him out the other day; did he not owe them the same thing in return? What a strange feeling to owe something to Pokemon… Silver didn't like it. He didn't like feeling like that about anyone, let alone those who he commanded.

The man let out a noise to show he had finished and waved at Silver. "Your Pokemon's haircut is all done! Your Pokemon looks delighted!" He said this happily, less tension behind his eyes now. Golbat flapped its wings and flew up from the table, landing on Silver's shoulder. Silver winced slightly, at the added weight, but stood steady. Golbat was quite the large Pokemon, contrary to popular belief, and he had never expected it to jump on him like this, but he allowed it for the time being. "Thank you." Silver told the man quietly and fished out the money to pay him, while doing it he hesitated a moment before saying "You did an excellent job. If I come back, I'll make sure it's you who gives my Pokemon haircuts in the future." The man's sincere smile, pure happiness pulling at his face was enough to make Silver want to duck out and roll away but he did his best to force a smile back before walking out.

He wasn't used to this, to being purposefully nice to people. Not that he went out of his way to be cruel or mean, not at all. He just didn't try to be kind either; he tried to avoid conversation and others whenever it was possible for him.

Silver walked back to his campsite just as carefully as he had going there, but this time more aware of his Golbat's weight on him. It made the trek slightly harder, but he did his best, not wanting to dislodge his Pokemon. When Silver stepped down a path, his foot going lower than he had planned, he winced at the unexpected jolt, and Golbat flew up from his shoulder without hesitation. It flew around his head, as if investigating if its trainer was alright, before they continued on. It was along route 34 on their way back that Golbat made a small mistake. The blue Pokemon, after glancing at its trainer, failed to notice the tree that was closer than had been planned. It flew into it face first, mouth wide open, small leaves falling from the branches onto its head. A Snubbul that had been residing in its branches, enjoying a small nap in the sunshine, was given a rude awakening. Its eyes darkening on its stout pink face, anger clearly showing through its eyes. Snubbul weren't known for logic, and it jumped down quickly onto the unexpecting Pokemon, biting at it angrily. Golbat let out a loud cry of surprise. Before Silver could stop himself from reacting to the site he yelled angrily at the Pokemon, making his way back towards it. He waved his arms angrily with a quick yell of "Get out of here! Get off of him!" And made shooing motions at the Pokemon. Silver's voice was loud and demanding, one that most would just listen quickly to and get out of the way, but not Snubbul.

Snubbul changed its method of attack, choosing to focus on Silver now instead. It attempted to jump at him angrily, but Silver back stepped quickly away from him, his ankle preventing him from doing anything else.

"Golbat, use Air Cutter!" Silver quickly commanded of his Pokemon. Golbat quickly swooped in for the attack, Snubbul's eyes widening when it realized these enemies weren't the type to be taken lightly. Silver smirked as it turned tail and ran, retreating into the trees. It was an easy battle, but one that meant more to him for winning. Golbat let out a victory cry, swooping through the air happily. Silver smiled a bit at it, enjoying his partner's happiness. Partner? Was that the right word for his Pokemon after all? Silver swallowed nervously as he began to ponder the thought. Partners meant two that worked together, and wasn't that what they had just done? Be it to protect it each other, to grow stronger, hadn't they been partners all along? Been _friends_? Heh, how silly of him not to realize… Silver laughed to himself quietly, judging his own foolishness. A bright light caught his vision and his eyes widened, his Golbat being the seriousness. Silver felt small tears prick at the corners of his eyes. This was it; his new friend was evolving, and the only thing that had been preventing it before had been his own foolishness. When it was done, its new purple body spreading out its wings happily, Silver gave it a happy smile.

"Come on, let's go back to camp." He led his greatest evolution achievement behind him, no… One of his partners.

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*-description based on the pokemon episode featuring the haircut brothers


End file.
